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I IN overhauls 80s Tokyo apartment to change perception of renovations in Japan
Reeded glass partitions, stucco walls and red walnut joinery feature in this renovation of a compact apartment in Tokyo by local studio I IN. More
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Keiji Ashizawa builds Blue Bottle Coffee's Tokyo outpost around volcanic-ash counter
Brick-like tiles with a volcanic ash glaze created by Formafantasma and textured concrete walls feature in this coffee shop in Shibuya, Tokyo, by Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design. More
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Azabu Residence in Tokyo references mid-century American design and Brazilian modernism
Danish firm Norm Architects and Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design have designed a mid-century modern-informed interior for Azabu Residence in Tokyo using muted dark tones and warm natural materials. More
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Nanometer Architecture takes advantage of extra space in Nagoya flat
Architects Yuki Mitani and Atsumi Nonaka have transformed an unusual bare-concrete storage room on the side of their home in Nagoya, Japan, into a multi-functional reception room. More
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Schemata Architects designs tiny Nakamata sweet shop in Maebashi
Tokyo studio Schemata Architects has designed a confectionery store in Maebashi, Japan, with a courtyard to help open up and revive a shopping street that was on the decline. More
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Gridded steel facade evokes bamboo forest at Hermès store in Tokyo
Parisian studio RDAI has designed a store on Tokyo’s prestigious Omotesando Avenue for fashion house Hermès, which was designed to evoke aspects of Japanese nature and culture. More
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Keiji Ashizawa uses “rough materials” to create cosy restaurant interior
Wood-wool cement-board walls and concrete tabletops feature in this Tokyo restaurant interior by Japanese architect Keiji Ashizawa.Located a few minutes walk from Kawaguchi station in one of Tokyo’s largest commuter towns, Grillno is a cosy, 26-seat restaurant that serves a menu of smoked and grilled dishes.
Top image: tables and chairs made from concrete, steel and wood furnish the interior. Above: dim lighting sets the mood
Built on the second floor of a concrete apartment building, the moodily lit interior features walls made from grey wood wool cement board alongside oak floors and doors.
An open kitchen with a long concrete counter allows diners to watch the chefs at work as they eat.
“There are two fundamental inspirations,” said Ashizawa, “the building materials used for the thirty-year-old concrete apartment building and the food ingredients the restaurant uses daily.”The textured walls are made from grey wood wool cement board
The 62-square-metre restaurant only opens in the evening, so guests typically experience the space at sunset or after dark.
“The space gets some natural daylight from the entrance,” Ashizawa told Dezeen. “The gentle light from the setting sun creates a spectacular atmosphere during the opening hours.”A concrete counter stretches along the length of the open kitchen
The restaurant’s owner is a friend of the Tokyo-based architect, as well as a regular collaborator.
“Since starting his career as a chef, I have been supporting him with the planning of his restaurants — and enjoying eating what he cooks, of course,” Ashizawa explained.
“As Grillno is a restaurant specialised in smoked and grilled dishes, we began by planning an open kitchen and a long concrete counter around the kitchen so that people could enjoy watching the chef cook while eating.”A suspended steel lamp hovers over the concrete counter
A thin, long steel suspension lamp hangs above the concrete counter to create an even light for dining.
“We believe that good restaurants can welcome people in many situations, whether you come by yourself, with your friends and family or for your night out,” continued Ashizawa.
“To make the most out of the space as possible, we planned different types of seating arrangements.”Campana brothers use hollow terracotta blocks for São Paulo Aesop store
These include the rounded counter, which seats up to 14 diners, alongside two cosy wooden tables for couples that are tucked away in a recess, and three tables that seat up to four people on a mix of chairs and benches.
Dining tables for couples are placed in a recess
“With a few rough materials, worked expertly by craftsmen, we tried to achieve a relaxing atmosphere with moments of tension to match the food and hospitality,” explained Ashizawa.
Incorporating industrial materials that are generally perceived as “rough” into commercial interiors is popular among architects and designers.
Lisbon-based Inês Brandão has created a kitchen from oriented strand board inside a converted barn home in Portugal, while brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana applied hollow ceramic bricks, typically used to build external walls, in a shop interior for Aesop in Sao Paulo.Read more: More
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Freitag store in Kyoto is designed to resemble the brand's own warehouse
Hazard lines and metal shelving are some of the industrial finishes that Torafu Architects has included in bag brand Freitag’s store in Kyoto – which even includes its own workshop.Freitag’s Kyoto store, which is shortlisted in the small retail interior category of the 2020 Dezeen Awards, occupies what was formerly two separate retail units in the city’s Nakagyo-ku district.
The interiors of the store have been designed by Torafu Architects to look like Freitag’s logistics warehouse at the brand’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.Top image: the store’s exterior. Above: hazard lines have been painted on some of the store’s surfaces
Industrial-style details have been incorporated throughout the 80-square-metre space, which the architecture practice said they left in a “skeleton state”. For example, black-and-yellow hazard lines have been painted around one of the store’s structural columns.
Similar lines appear beneath the green cash desk. Just opposite sits a matching rubber-topped counter where customers will be able to set down and inspect any potential purchases.
PVC flap curtains were used to screen off the shop’s storeroom, which is enclosed by a volume clad in wood-wool boards. Simple strip lights have also been fitted across the ceiling.Freitag’s bags are displayed on metal shelves or stored in drawers
Bags are displayed on metal shelves or on top of pallets which have been stacked up in the store’s front window.
Uniform rows of drawers that run across the entire left-hand side of the store contain more Freitag bags, each of which is crafted from recycled truck tarpaulin.
The brand first removes any eyelets or straps left on the tarps before cutting, washing and turning them into a range of different bag models such as backpacks, totes or holdalls.Freitag’s Sweat-Yourself-Shop is a tiny factory for making bags
Towards the rear of the store is a workshop, where customers will be able to experiment with using tarp offcuts themselves and turn them into a small accessory of their choice.
The store includes a workshop where customers can make their own accessories
More industrial touches appear on Freitag’s facade, where a red-steel beam has been installed in place of the wall that once divided the two retail units.
A large drawing of a truck has also been created on the store’s side elevation so that customers “never forget the origin of every unique specimen”.The store’s side elevation features a mural of a truck
Torafu Architects was founded in 2004 by Koichi Suzuno and Shinya Kamuro. The practice’s Freitag Kyoto store will compete against four other projects in the small interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
Amongst them is an Aesop store in Shinjuku, which features a contrasting mix of steel and plaster surfaces.
Also on the list is Small Icon, a tiny bakery in Yokohama that’s decorated in the same warm, golden hues as a loaf of bread.
Photography is by Taichi Ano.Read more: More
